Reviewing PolyPid (NASDAQ:PYPD) & Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV)

PolyPid (NASDAQ:PYPD) and Minerva Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares PolyPid and Minerva Neurosciences”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PolyPid	N/A	N/A	-$34.17 million	($2.26)	-1.90
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	N/A	$1.44 million	($1.85)	-3.37

Minerva Neurosciences is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PolyPid, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for PolyPid and Minerva Neurosciences, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PolyPid	1	0	5	0	2.67
Minerva Neurosciences	1	1	0	0	1.50

PolyPid presently has a consensus target price of $12.25, indicating a potential upside of 185.55%. Minerva Neurosciences has a consensus target price of $4.00, indicating a potential downside of 35.79%. Given PolyPid’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe PolyPid is more favorable than Minerva Neurosciences.

Volatility and Risk

PolyPid has a beta of 1.52, indicating that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerva Neurosciences has a beta of -0.22, indicating that its share price is 122% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares PolyPid and Minerva Neurosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PolyPid	N/A	-291.42%	-131.82%
Minerva Neurosciences	N/A	-41.35%	-43.68%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

26.5% of PolyPid shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 34.6% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 24.7% of PolyPid shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Minerva Neurosciences shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

PolyPid beats Minerva Neurosciences on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PolyPid

PolyPid Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, developing targeted, locally administered, and prolonged-release therapeutics using its proprietary polymer-lipid encapsulation matrix (PLEX) technology to address unmet medical needs. Its lead product candidate is D-PLEX100, which is in a pivotal Phase 3 confirmatory trial for prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing abdominal colorectal surgery with large incisions. It is also developing OncoPLEX, for the treatment of intra-tumoral cancer. PolyPid Ltd. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel.

About Minerva Neurosciences

Minerva Neurosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of product candidates for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Its lead product candidate is roluperidone (MIN-101) for the treatment of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, currently submitted an New Drug Application (NDA); and MIN-301, a soluble recombinant form of the neuregulin-1b1 protein for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company has a license agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation to develop, sell, and import roluperidone globally excluding Asia. Minerva Neurosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Burlington, Massachusetts.